German broadcasters suspend Tour coverage

BERLIN, July 19 (UPI) -- Two German public broadcasters made good on a promise to suspend coverage of the Tour de France after a positive doping test for a German cyclist.

ARD and ZDF Wednesday suspended their joint, four-hour coverage of the cycling race. They had pledged to do so if any serious doping cases surfaced during this year's race, Variety reported Thursday.

German cyclist Patrik Sinkewitz was found to have extremely high levels of testosterone. Sinkewitz, a member of Germany's T-Mobile team, was injured in a crash Sunday and withdrew from the race. He denied any wrongdoing.

"We have decided to stop covering the tour until the case has been cleared up," ZDF Editor in Chief Nikolaus Brender said.